"I'm proud to be going at a moment when Israel is in need and . . . friends need to stand and be counted," the mayor said.

The highlight of de Blasio's three-day trip is his delivery of a keynote speech on anti-Semitism in the West. He will also visit with Jewish and Arab students from Christian and Muslim families who are enrolled in an intercultural school in Jerusalem.

He will meet with Israeli officials, but de Blasio said meeting with Palestinian officials amid the current tensions is "not appropriate." He did not elaborate.